What are NFTs and are they really the next big thing?

The Inquiry

• Episode: What are NFTs and are they really the next big thing?
• Website: The Inquiry
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p029399x/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:23:58
• Published: 2021-05-27 09:30

In 2005 a photo of four-year-old Zoë Roth standing in front of a burning house went viral on the internet. It became a meme known as “disaster girl”. In April 2021, the image sold for $473,000 as an NFT, or non-fungible token - that’s sort of a digital record of ownership.

And the sales keep coming. Another NFT recently sold for $69 million. The first ever Tweet went for a huge $2.9 million … and a GIF of a pixelated rainbow cat sold for $690,000.

But what is an NFT, and is it really the next big thing? Suzanne Kianpour explores the world of NFT’s.

Produced by Soila Apparicio and Olivia Noon.

(CryptoPunk digital art NFT displayed on a digital billboard in Times Square NY City, May 12 2021. Credit: Alexi Rosenfeld /Getty Images)